Joe Pereira begins his third season on the bench as a member of head coach Mike Cavanaugh's coaching staff at UConn. Pereira has played a significant role in the program's recruiting efforts during his time in Storrs. On the ice, he will work with the team's forwards and penalty killing units this season.

An enthusiastic young coach, Pereira joined the Huskies coaching staff just five years removed from winning a national title as a player at Boston University.

Pereira graduated from BU in 2011 with a degree in business of management after a four-year career with the Terriers. In 2009, Pereira was a part of a BU team won the Beanpot Tournament and the Hockey East regular season and tournament titles and capped the season by capturing the National Championship.

During his senior season, Pereira wore the "C" for the Terriers and ended his career as a two-time winner of BU's Bennett McInnis Memorial Spirit Award and was the Albert Sidd Unsung Hero Award winner. He earned Hockey East All-Academic honors and the Regina Eiberg Scholarship as the top student-athlete on the team.

His professional career included stints with the Worcester Sharks and the Bridgeport Sound Tigers of the American Hockey League (2010-11), the Idaho Steelheads and South Carolina Stingrays of the East Coast Hockey League (2011-12) while also playing professionally in Sweden in the summer of 2011.

Pereira began his coaching career working with the club hockey program at Sacred Heart University in Fairfield during the 2012-13 season. He helped lead the Pioneers to its first-ever Northeast Collegiate Hockey League championship. Before joining the Huskies, he also served as the Director of Scouting for Madison Avenue Sports and Entertainment.

Prior to enrolling at BU, he played two seasons at the South Kent (Conn.) School, leading the Cardinals to their first appearance in the New England Prep Division I playoffs. He is a member of the South Kent Hockey Hall of Fame.